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by chaosmanor



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-05
Updated: 2006-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 23:19:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosmanor/pseuds/chaosmanor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: This is a non-profit, non-commercial work of fiction using the names and likenesses of real individuals. This fictional story is not intended to imply that the events herein actually occurred, or that the attitudes or behaviors described are engaged in or condoned by the real persons whose names are used without permission.</p>
    </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a non-profit, non-commercial work of fiction using the names and likenesses of real individuals. This fictional story is not intended to imply that the events herein actually occurred, or that the attitudes or behaviors described are engaged in or condoned by the real persons whose names are used without permission.

It was Sidi going ballistic in the yard that woke Kate, even before the car door closed and the security system chimed. Essa was better behaved, appearing from under the bed, yawning and stretching, tail thumping against the side of the mattress.

Shouting would make absolutely no difference at all, nothing did with Sidi, except a solid tap on his nose, so Kate flicked the bedside light on and found her robe where it was draped over the foot of the bed,

She turned the hall light on just as the front door closed behind Orlando and he dumped his luggage on the couch.

"Hey, babe," he said, and even in the half-light from the hall, he looked exhausted.

"Hi, love," Kate said, and they embraced, just for a moment. "Bad flight?"

The cacophony in the backyard increased, and they could hear Sidi hurling himself at the sliding door to the deck. Essa sidled past, looking innocent, probably to go and tease Sidi through the glass.

Orlando said, "Yeah. Better let Sidi in."

He was back in a moment, arms full of squirming, struggling dog, and Kate followed him through to the bedroom, where he dumped the jubilant dog on their bed and began to pull his clothes off.

"Come talk to me while I shower?" he asked, and Kate yawned and nodded.

"Let me put the kettle on first," she said, and Sidi leapt off the bed and skittered ahead of her into the kitchen. The dog picked his metal bowl up in his teeth and crashed it repeatedly against the tiles, then hopped up on his back legs to watch Kate fill the kettle and put it on the gas.

"Satisfied?" she asked him, and patted his head.

Orlando was under the shower when she carried the two mugs into the bathroom, so she put Orlando's beside his basin and closed the lid of the toilet and sat on the lid, mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

Sidi followed her in, inevitably, bowl still in his teeth, so she slid the shower door open with her foot to let him in to be with Orlando.

"Fuckit," she heard Orlando say. "Sidi, get your nose out..."

Orlando was out of the shower a minute later, and a wet Sidi shook himself vigorously, spraying water everywhere, but Kate had a hand over each cup, so there was no damage done, then Orlando pulled a robe on and hauled Sidi off to lock him in the backyard.

Kate had crawled back into bed, robe still on, when Orlando, still dripping from his shower, tossed a paper bag on the bed.

"Bought you back a present, Katie," he said, and he sat on the foot of the bed and took his mug when she held it out to him.

There was a brown glass bottle in the bag, unmarked, and she unscrewed the cap and sniffed. It smelled of coconut oil and lime juice, and she stuck a finger into the bottle, then licked her finger.

"Oh yuck," she said, and Orlando started laughing quietly.

"It's the local version of tanning lotion," he said. "You're not supposed to drink it."

"Fuck you," Kate said. "You could have told me."

"Can I plead jetlag?" Orlando said hopefully, and Kate shook her head.

She put the bottle on her bedside table and retrieved her mug, washing down the taste of the lotion with chocolate, then resting her chin on her drawn up knees.

Orlando sprawled across the bed, stretching and twisting so his back crunched, and Kate reached out and stroked her hand across his bare belly. "Are we really going to do this?" she asked. "Are you sure you want to?"

His hand squeezed her ankle affectionately. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want to," he said. "You know I love you, Katie. You're my best friend, we look after each other."

No one understood this, no one knew how much they meant to each other. Kate covered Orlando's hand with her own. "We do," she agreed.

It was four in the morning, according to the clock beside the bed, and Kate yawned without bothering to cover her mouth. Sidi had stopped howling, out in the yard, and no one seemed to have called the janitor about it, and Essa had crawled back under the bed, where she slept. Kate should get some more sleep too.

When they'd first met, Orlando had been all raw heart and broken dreams, disillusioned and unhappy, having been fucked over by his ex on a grand scale. Kate had been lost too, buffetted around by a world she wasn't ready for. They'd become close; not lovers, not quite, but closer than friends; each other's safe harbor in the madness.

That was more than enough for a marriage.


End file.
